Tooth cleaning and polishing element



March 1, 1932. H. R. PRIEST 1,847,495

TOOTH CLEANING AND PoLIsHING ELEMENT Filed July l5, 1930 NEIN!! ql 11111171152 'N Patented Mar. 1, 1932 UNITED STATES HARRY R. PRIEST, OF LOUDONVILLE, OHIO TOOTH CLEANING AND POLISHING ELEMENT Application filed July 15,

This invention relates to tooth cleaning and polishing elements and has for an object to provide primarily a device by means of which considerable pressure may be applied to effectively remove mucous films, stains, tartar and accumulations from the teeth..

A further object is to provide a cleaning and polishing device having a working element comprising a comparatively short noni@ eXtensible non-spreading tuft of stiff bristles by means of which an abrasive action may be exerted on the teeth, said tuft resisting the application of pressure up to and beyond twenty pounds without the shape or dimensions thereof varying noticeably so that tartar, for instance, which nearly approximates a bone growth in consistency and hitherto has beenremoved by power driven or manually operated cutters may be thoroughly removed and the normal luster and polish ofth teeth exposed. 4

With the above and other objects in view the invention consists in certain novel details of construction and combination of parts hereinafter fully described and claimed, it being understood that various modifications may be resorted to within the scope of the appended claims without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of the invention.

In the accompanying drawings forming is aY fragmentary sectionalv view taken on the line 4-4 of Fig. 3, 'j Fig. 5 is a perspective view of a modified form of shank for the cleaning andpolishing element, L

Fig. 6 is a detail sectional viewv showing another vmodified form of shank constituting a. magazine for spare cleaning and polishing 193e. Vserial No. 468,130.

elements and showing a removable dental floss magazine applied thereto, and

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary elevation showing a cleaning and polishing element disposed at an oblique angle to the shank.

. `Referring now to the drawings in which like characters of reference designate similarparts in the various views, 10 designates a shank which terminates at one end in an screwed onto the end of the shank and forms va closure for the dental floss recess. The cap is provided with an axial opening 18 to permit the end 19 of the dental floss to proiect therethrough and is also provided with a spur20 struck from the metal of the cap to provide a cutter for cutting off a desired length of the dental floss.

Preferably,ra cap 21 is removably secured to the butt end of theshank and houses the exposed end of the dental floss so as to protect the same fromcontamination. A mirror 22 is preferably counter-sunk in the flat outer end-face of the can and provides means for inspecting the condition of the teeth.

As best shown in Fig. 2. the cleaning` and polishing element comprises a. socket 23 which is preferably provided with an exteriorly threaded stem 24 adapted to encrage the screw threads 12 of the hollow head 11. The socket is substantially annularin con tour and is provided with a. shoulder 25 at the base of the stem 24 to engage the Het end face 26 of the hollow head and limit insertion of the socket in. the head.

A single comparatively short straight tutt of rigid bristles 27 is secured in the socket. The bristles are embedded or rubber set in preferably a. hard rubber base 28 which is preferably forced into the socket under vpressure so as to so snugly fit'in the socket as to Y positively prevent accidental dislodgment of IBG the tuft. The hard rubber base 28 extends substantially one-half the length of the tuft and assists in preventing any tendency of the bristles thereof to spread laterally. The purpose of the base 28 is to maintain the bristles in intimate contact with each other throughout their entire length, and by eX- tending for a considerable length along the bristles the base permanently secures the bristles against any tendency to spread and binds or clamps the bristles so tightly together as to positively prevent any yielding of the bristles of the tuft to destroy the unitary non-distortable characteristic of the tuft.

The tuft- 27 may be formed of badger bristles. boar bristles, Vwood fiber bristles. or other material. of sufficient rigidity to resist lateral spreading apart. In oracticethe nreferred embodiment of the bristle element is constructed so compact as to nearly resist penetration of a pin or needle laterally between the bristles. The tuft therefor is cha racterized by exhibiting non-extensibility as well as non-spreading of the tuft. @onse` Guentlv. an unvieldinor or distortionless tuft is 'produced which will maintain its contour aswell longitudinal and transverse diameters substantiallywithout chantre during' the applicati-on of the greatnressure necessary to effectively remove tartar and like accumulations which have hitherto reouiredY the, use of cutters or abrasive tools to effect dislodgm'ent thereof.

The tuft- 27 in the present embodiment is shown as being substantially cylindrical 'and having a substantially fiat workine.v surface. However. it isnnot intended to limit the construction of the tuft to this particular `sh ane. as in pra ctic'e the. tutt may be formed with a. wedge shaped working surface or with a conical workin@ surface or with any other sbanedworkimr surface which may prove effective to edect entry of the tuft in creyices otand between'the teeth.

It isY well known to those skilled in the art of dentistry that ordinary tooth brushes comprising yielding bristles of one-half inch 'or more 'in lengthfai'l to function when Vpressure greater than l2 pounds is applied thereto. vThe bristles hLve a hinge actiomthat is, they yield or spread apart laterally when great pressure is applied and nolonger perform' useful work. VFurthermore,*the han-A dles of ordinary toothbrushes .break under pressures above l2 pounds. Y In contrast to this, my improved device actually begins its effective work when under v pressure from l2 to `pounds or more, since 'the comparatively y Astiff unyielding tuft `of bristles does nrot'yie'l'd laterally under such great pressure, that is, there is :absentfrom the unitary ftuft element r any .hinge eife'ct whatsoever.

My tutt element 2T, it will be stated,in

floss carton 41.

practice, is exposed beyond the base 28 approximately l@ inch in length.

In Fig. 3 there is shown a modified form of the invention in which I employ an ordinary st-ock tooth brush handle 29. The cleaning and polishing tuft 30 constructed as above described is in this instance rubber set or provided with ahard rubber or similar base 3l which confines the bristles in a solid compact mass. The base is forced under pressure into a socket 32 formed in the head 33 of the shank 29. Thus the cleaning and polishing component Vis rigidly associated with the shank as a unit therewith and is nonremovable therefrom.

In Fig. 5 there is shown a. further modification ofl the invention. In this modified form, 33 designates the grip or shank which is somewhat similar in contour to the shank l0 shown in Fig. l with the exception that y it is solid throughout. The shank is equipped at one end with a mirror 34 preferably, although the mirror may be dispensed with if desired.. The cleaning and polishing element 35 is in this modification similar in construction to the cleaning and polishing element shown in Fig. 2,.the preferred form of the invention, that is, the element is de-` tachable from the shank to permit of renewal when worn out However, the element may be rigidly and non-detachably secured in the :shank 23 in much the same manner as the element is secured in the modified form y of the invention illustrated in Fig. 4.

CII

in the endwall with Va mirror 36. Pref-en ably, the magazine is threaded onto the but-t end of .the shank, as shown at 37, although a slip or friction joint may be substituted for the threaded joint if desired. As a result of his construction, all `the necessary members for thoroughly cleaning and polishing the teeth are associated in a` single unitary assembly. such as dental floss, spare cleaning` and polishing elements, as well as 'the attached cleaning iand polishing` element in the head of the shank.

In Fig. 6 there is shown a slightly modified form of the invention in which the axial recess38 in the shank 39 constitutes a magazine for the Ystorage of spare cleaning and polishing elements, while the cap 40 constitutes a magazine for the Vstorage of a metal dental A mirror 42 is disposed in the :butt end of the shankin this-embodiment and also a mirror 43 is disposed in the end Wall of the cap 40.

While the various shanks are illustrated each with a head thereon which receives the bristle element at substantially a right angle to the aXis of the shank, nevertheless it is not intended to limit the invention to this angular relationship of the shank and bristle element. In Fig. 7 the bristle element is shown disposed at an oblique angle to the axis of the shank, the shank 44 in this embodiment terminating in a head 45 which receives the threaded stem 46 of the socket 47 at an angle of substantially 45 degrees with respect to the aXis of the shank whereby the bristle tnft or component 48 is disposed with its fiat Working; face transversely with respect to the axis of the shank rather than substantially parallel thereto, as in the preferred forms illustrated.

By referring again to Fig. 1, it Will be seen that there is shown by broken lines a case to house the cleaning and polishing tuft and prevent contamination thereof. This case may be applied to all of the modified forms as Well as the preferred form of the invention and may be removably ioined to the shank by means of a slip or friction joint or by screw threads or otherwise.

Having thus described the invention, I claim:

1. In a tooth cleaning and polishing device. a shank terminating at one end in an enlarged grip having an axial recess in the end thereof. said recess providinga magazine for dental floss. a cap closing' said recess and having an opening through which the dental iioss may be drawn from the supply in the magazine. a cutter on said. cap, a second cap housing' the first named cap and adapted to protect the end of the dental floss from contamination` and a short compact stiff tuft of bristles removably carried by said shank at the opposite end thereof from said magazine.

2. In a tooth. cleaning` and polishing device. a shank terminating at one end in an enlarged ,grip having an axial recess in the end thereof. said recess forming a magazine, a cap closing said recess. a second cap housing the lirst-named cap and forming a magazine, and a. short compact stiff tuft of bristles removably carried by said shank at the opposite` 

